Last Kiss
by barney-mugger
Summary: Buffy Summers was your average teen queen. Hot boyfriend, cool friends, until one day when Buffy and her boyfriend Spike skipped school for a picnic. When everything changes, will geeky Willow and the freaky librarian be able to help Spike save Buffy?
1. Chapter 1

"No way, did she really say that?" Buffy shrieked, causing her best friend Cordelia to jump and then laugh.

"Yeah, she did. Pretty unbelievable, huh?" Cordelia said.

"Oh my god. I'm so taking her down. The top was couture, you know. My dad sent it to me from L.A." Buffy replied, pulling a file out from her small black bag and filing down a scraggly nail.

"Oh well, you know Harmony, sweet girl, not that bright."

Buffy laughed, and then jumped off the table as she saw a peroxide blonde guy wearing a long leather coat, despite the warm sun beating down on the small Californian town, approach.

"Spike!" Buffy cried, and wrapped her arms round his neck, giving him a kiss hello.

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Tone it down with the PDA's, would you?"

She was then distracted as a tall, dark haired, mysterious looking man came towards her from the other side of the quad. Well, Angel wasn't technically a man, but he could pass for a lot older than eighteen, much to the chagrin of the rest of the male senior class- Spike excluded.

"Hey, babe," Cordelia greeted him, mimicking Buffy's actions with Spike.

"Eew," Buffy teased, making a face.

"Aww, luv, don't go joking about Angel and Cordy's relationship. You know what Angel gets like when he's mad, don't you pet?" Spike said fondly, draping his arm around his tiny girlfriend's shoulders.

"Yeah, like that psycho ex of yours, remember Angel? What was her name? Daria?"

"Darla," Angel supplied sombrely. Then again, Angel was always sombre.

"Yeah, that's the one, Darla. Like, what was her childhood trauma? You put her in hospital for like a month! She shouldn't have been messing around in our relationship anyway," Cordelia jumped in, her face showing her contempt for Darla.

"Yeah. Grade A freak. Much like some people I could mention…" Buffy looked meaningfully at Willow, Xander and Jesse, all grouped round a maths text book.

Cordelia, Spike, and Angel all sniggered, and Spike grabbed Buffy's hand. "Come on, Buffy, we gotta go now if we wanna get to the hill before lunch. Principal Flutie will be doing his daily rounds in like a minute. Come on!"

"See you guys tonight at the Bronze!" Buffy called, waving to Cordelia and Angel.

"Bye! Have a nice time on your study trip!" Cordelia winked.

Laughing, Buffy and Spike ran out to Spike's car- the shiny black Mercedes which was technically his Dad's.

"This is gonna be great. You got the food in the back?" Buffy queried, sliding into the front passenger seat.

"Of course, luv. I even bought some of those onion blossom things from the Bronze the other night, 'specially for us."

"Aww!" Buffy cooed, leaning over to peck him on the cheek. "Thanks Spike. You're the best."

"You know it, pet." Spike stepped on the accelerator and zoomed out of the school parking lot.


	2. Chapter 2

(A/N: OK. I forgot to explain in the first chap- Spike and Angel are human, and Buffy has lived in Sunnydale her whole life. Her mom and dad got divorced recently, and her dad moved to L.A. The following song is Last Kiss by Pearl Jam, and it's explaining what happened when Spike and Buffy drove off. I know it says night not day, but improvise, kay? Lol. Oh yeah- I don't own Buffy or the Last Kiss lyrics, tune etc. Belongs respectively to Pearl Jam and Joss Wheedon.)

Oh where, oh where, can my baby be?   
The Lord took her away from me  
She's gone to heaven, so I've got to be good  
So I can see my baby when I leave this world

We were out on a date in my daddy's car  
We hadn't driven very far  
There in the road, straight ahead  
A car was stalled, the engine was dead

I couldn't stop, so I swerved to the right  
I'll never forget the sound that night  
The screamin' tires, the bustin' glass  
The painful scream that I heard last

Oh where, oh where, can my baby be?  
The Lord took her away from me  
She's gone to heaven, so I've got to be good  
So I can see my baby when I leave this world

When I woke up the rain was pourin' down  
There were people standing all around  
Something warm rollin' through my eyes  
But somehow I found my baby that night  
I lifted her head, she looked at me and said,  
"Hold me darling, just a little while"  
I held her close, I kissed her our last kiss  
I found the love that I knew I would miss.

Well now she's gone  
even though I hold her tight  
I lost my love, my life, that night.

Oh where, oh where, can my baby be?  
The Lord took her away from me  
She's gone to heaven, so I've got to be good  
So I can see my baby when I leave this world

Ooooo...  
Ahhhh...


	3. Chapter 3

Spike held his hand in his hands- he didn't want to see what was going on around him. The coffin was shut, so no one could see the terrible state Buffy was in when she had died. He knew what her face would look like- as smashed up as it had been when he'd kissed her for the very last time. Her beautiful nose almost torn right off her face, deep cuts intersecting across her cheeks. A couple of tears squeezed through his clenched fingers, and Spike felt a hand on his back. He looked up and saw Cordelia, her mascara now nothing more but huge thick lines running down her face. Tears were streaming thick and fast into her lap, where Angel held both of her hands again and murmured comforting words Spike couldn't quite hear.

Looking around, Spike couldn't see a single face that wasn't crying. Buffy's mom was over in a corner wailing in grief, and there was many other familiars from Sunnydale High- their circle of friends, and lots of other students. Then Spike spotted Willow. She wasn't crying, but her hands were twisted in an odd shape and she looked really upset. Spike did a double take as he spotted who was behind her. He was pretty sure it was the school librarian- and he was also pretty sure that Buffy had never set foot in the school library in her life…that thought made Spike feel cold, colder than if a bucket of snow had just been tipped over his head. Buffy had never set foot in the library, and now she never would.

Spike continued to stare at Willow and the librarian- and then they seemed to feel someone watching them, and the pair turned around to meet Spike's eye.

Staring back unfalteringly, Spike kept watching them. Willow and the librarian…what was his name again? G something. Gides, Gideon, Guyles? Yeah, that was it; Guyles, both looked unnerved and then walked out of the hall, just as Cordelia rose from the bench to walk up to the podium.

Spike kept wondering why they had walked out, mainly because clinging to that thought stopped him from thinking about Buffy, for at least a moment.

Cordelia stood behind the ebony pedestal and cleared her throat- it was a scratchy, hiccuping noise, the sound of someone who had just been crying.

But when she spoke, her voice was clear and unwavering. "I can't say any of that fancy stuff about Buffy. You know, she was a great human being, and she's in a better place now. That's not what Buffy was about. Buffy was full of life, bubbly, vivacious, happy. She was my best friend."

Spike wanted to scream at every use of the word 'was'. She still is, damn it! Even if she's not here, she still is!

"Buffy was one of those special girls. We'll never meet anyone like her again, ever. Immortal is not a word we can use to describe her body on this Earth, but it is a word we can use to describe her presence, her spirit. I think Buffy is watching us right now, taking care of us, as I speak. All I have to say about Buffy Summers is-remember her. Remember the sweet girl with blonde hair and sparkling smile. Remember her." Cordelia walked slowly down from the podium, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

Joyce's eyes glistened with tears, quivering under her eyelashes but not falling. She shot Cordelia a look that Spike could not describe- it was brimming with hundreds of emotions; gratitude, regret, sadness, pain, sorrow.

Spike and Angel stood, as did Hank Summers and Buffy's close friend Mitch. The four walked slowly down towards Buffy's smooth oak coffin, each lifting one of the gilded handles and carrying the coffin out the cemetery, placing it in the device which would lower it down into the dank earth.

The onyx gravestone glinted cruelly at Spike- the white _Buffy Anne Summers _glaring into his eyes.

The rest of the crowd flocked out of the hall, fanning out around Spike, Angel, Mitch and Buffy's dad. The four men each grabbed a shovel and dug into the close mound of dirt, tossing it into the hole until it was filled to the top.

As if this was confirmation that this was it, the funeral was over, the mass started to trickle away until it was just Spike, Joyce and Hank left staring at the tombstone.

"Mr and Ms Summers, I think I'll let you have a few moments alone with Buffy," Spike said painstakingly, trying his hardest to appear polite.

Joyce turned her sad eyes to Spike and murmured, "No, dear, it's alright. You can go first…say your apologies."

Spike looked at her sharply. Apologies? Then it became clear. She thought he was responsible for Buffy's death. Anger boiled inside him, threatening to spill out through any outlet, but Spike forced it back down again. He would just have to explain it all later, try and make her understand what had really happened that day.

Joyce and Hank turned away, and walked back towards the hall. Spike reached inside his jacket and pulled out a slightly squashed bunch of roses, which he placed carefully on top of the recently dug earth.

"Buffy…" Spike whispered, "Buffy, I love you."

He then paced back to his silver BMW, got in and drove off.

A week later, Spike was back at school. All the other students skirted him, dodged him nervously as he passed. When they spoke to him it was as if they were tiptoeing around a minefield, scared they would say something that would cause him to blow. Cordelia and Angel treated him differently, but not in the same sense as the rest of the school. They sat together mostly silent at lunch and in classes, but Spike knew soon they would regain the power of speech around it each other. Right now, the wound of losing Buffy was just far too raw. It would be like applying acid to an open gash.

Spike still wondered out Guyles and Willow leaving Buffy's funeral when he had looked at them for longer than a few seconds. Why were they so jumpy and nervous? Spike still didn't know why either of them was there in the first place- Guyles had only arrived in Sunnydale a few weeks ago, and as little as Spike liked to admit it, Buffy was never exactly pleasant towards Willow or any of her geeky friends. Nor were he, or Cordy and Angel for that matter, but it was Buffy's funeral. Maybe that's why they had left so suddenly when he stared at them- maybe they thought he was implying that they shouldn't be there, or something. Spike hadn't seen Xander or Jesse there, so it was especially weird.

As he paced towards his locker, Spike decided to go to the library and find out for himself. It gave him something to do for a little longer. Turning on his heel, Spike marched towards the library door and pushed through it, overhearing the tail end of a conversation between the three people that were in there.

"We have to do something. Without her, the Master is going to eat this town alive."

"I know, but what-" Giles cut off abruptly as he saw Spike standing in the doorway.

"Ah, yes, what can I do for you?"

"Yeah, Mr Guyles, you can tell me why you and Red here dashed out of Buffy's funeral when I looked at you."

"Giles," Giles said faintly.

"Huh?" Spike replied, his arms still folded.

"Giles. My name is Mr Giles."

"Giles then. Answer my question," Spike ordered, not really caring how rude he sounded.

Willow, Xander and Giles exchanged looks. "Should we tell him?" Willow whispered to Giles, but Spike still heard.

"Yes, you should bloody well tell me!"

Giles took a deep breath, squared his shoulders and turned to face Spike. "Spike, this may sound incredibly strange, bizarre, and moronic to you, but your girlfriend, Buffy, was the Vampire Slayer."


	4. Chapter 4

Spike stared incredulously at the British librarian, then laughed humourlessly. "So you think it's funny to mess with my mind? Tell me rubbish about Buffy to screw with my head? I think you people are sick. My girlfriend bloody died two weeks ago, and now you tell me some bollocks about her being a 'Slayer'?"

Spike walked towards the door, but just as he was about to push through it, the two doors opened momentarily then slammed together with an ominous crash.

Spike slammed his shoulder in vain against the wood, struggling desperately to get out. When he could not, he stood back and looked at the door in shock.

"Who are you people?" was all Spike managed to choke out.

Willow stood up, and snapped her fingers, allowing a small amount of sparks to erupt out, flashing briefly before vanishing into the air. "I'm a witch."

Spike could do nothing but gape in amazement at the red head, who up until a minute ago he had always labelled as another boring nerd.

"And I," Giles strode forward, "am a Watcher. Well, I was supposed to be Buffy's watcher. But every time I tried to get close to her to tell her that she had just been called as the new Slayer, people always surrounded her. She was only called about three days before her death, and she never knew about her gift."

"What? What's a Watcher?" Spike asked, despite all his effort to get out, becoming interested in the story. After all, if witches existed, then why couldn't vampires and slayers? Buffy had been unusually strong in the last few days of her life- lifting things, even people in cheerleading, with more than apparent ease.

"A Watcher is the Slayer's guardian- teaches and trains her to help fight against the demons. Whenever the Slayer dies, a new one is called. However, there is a big problem with Buffy's untimely death. I have just received word of an ancient and horrifically powerful vampire on the rise to escape his underground prison, where he has been trapped for the past several hundred years. The newly called Slayer, whom I have heard from my Council sources has been activated in Brazil, where there is also threat of a wide scale apocalypse. We desperately need Buffy back- otherwise the Master will rise without a fight, and the Earth will be doomed."

Spike was confounded. "You're going to have to start at the beginning."

Giles explained briefly about the history of Slayers- in every generation there is a chosen one, etc etc. Spike was stunned- he still wasn't sure whether to believe them or not, but all evidence pointed to them telling the truth.

Then Giles started explaining the history of the Master- everything about the über vampire he had found out so far.

"So," Giles finished, "The Harvest is in a few days, and with no Slayer here to stop it, the Master will be free and the world as we know it will cease to exist."

Spike sat heavily into a nearby chair. "But…Buffy's gone." Each word pained him, but it was the truth. How exactly did Giles expect to bring her back?

"Well, Spike, this is Sunnydale. The dead don't tend to stay dead for very long." It was Willow who spoke this time, stepping forward to address Spike.

Spike looked up at her blinked. "What do you mean?"

Xander lifted up a decorated terracotta urn, painted with strange symbols. "With this…we can bring Buffy back from the dead."

Spike turned towards the doors again. "That is absolutely crazy. I almost believed your rubbish about vampires and demons, god how stupid am I?" He banged on the doors, and then yelled, "Let me out!"

"I will if you really want me too, Spike, but we're telling the truth," Willow said.

Spike heaved a massive sigh. "Just let me out."

Willow, Giles and Xander looked at each other, and Willow waved her hand at the door, which opened with a sticky squelch. Spike walked right out without turning back, walking faster to escape the mutterings of the students. As the library doors swung shut again, Willow turned to Giles and Xander.

"It looks like we're going to have to find someone else to complete the circle."

Giles nodded. "But who? Spike was our last resort."

"What about Angel or Cordelia?" Xander suggested.

"Are you kidding? It was blind luck that Spike stumbled in here by himself. Angel and Cordelia would never talk to us, let alone believe what we said. No, it'll have to be someone else." Willow pondered, her eyes gazing into the distance.

"What about the young man you seem quite taken with, the musician fellow?" Giles offered, causing Willow to grin.

"Yeah, good thinking Giles, Oz probably would do it. And, being a werewolf, he might even add a bit of a power boost to the circle." Willow stood from her chair and marched to the doors, "I'm going to find Oz," her eyes took on a dangerous gleam, "and tonight, we bring Buffy back."


	5. Chapter 5

(A/N: Thanks so much to all who reviewed! Give me strength to carry on :D Sorry if the resurrection ritual isn't quite right, it's been quite a while since I last watched Bargaining so some details could be a little off. Quite a few things I made up and added myself.)

The graveyard was silent- no sound but the rustling whisper of leaves as they fluttered over the soft grass. Suddenly, there was a crunch as a pair of shoes squashed the trembling leaves into pieces.

"Is it ready?" Giles' usually calm voice was harried as he hurried over to Willow from the darkness.

Willow nodded, handing Giles and candle and a lighter. Oz and Xander held their already lit candles carefully, kneeling in the prepared circle with the urn resting in front of Willow.

Xander took a deep breath- Willow had warned him and Oz that the ritual was going to be freaky, but under no circumstances could they break the circle.

"Ready?" Willow eyed everyone in the circle, to three affirmative nods.

She began to recite the incantation, and a large wind whipped up and circled around the four, spiralling around the grave in a frenzy of gray dust and foliage. Willow kept declaiming, and suddenly cried out in agony as a series of cuts appeared on her arms and began to ooze blood. Oz made to rise from his position, but Xander shouted a warning to him. His forewarning was cut off abruptly as Willow gagged and bent forward onto the ground as if to throw up, only to have a python slither out of her mouth. The other three were horrified, but Giles still yelled, "She's being tested!"

The snake slid completely out of her mouth, coiling onto the earth and gliding away. At that moment, the circling windstorm whipped up again, pulling all the dirt away from Buffy's grave, exposing the shiny, sleek coffin beneath. As Giles, Willow, Oz and Xander watched, the lid of the coffin flew open to reveal Buffy's decomposing, disfigured body lying on the satin cushioning. As if in slow motion, the flesh seemed to congregate on her face, healing and returning her healthy form. With a gasp, Buffy sat up in her casket and gulped the cool night air.


	6. Chapter 6

About a kilometre away, Spike kicked at the ground with the scuffed toes of his shoes. He wasn't able to sleep, as was custom for him now. Often, he walked past a large rosebush on his way to the cemetery and picked a large bouquet of the red flowers to lie on Buffy's grave. He kicked the ground more fiercely when he thought of that freak Willow and the even weirder librarian. Fancy trying to convince him with all that rubbish about demons and Slayers… What utter bollocks.

And then came a sound that chilled him to the bone. A scream was tearing through the night air as effectively as a razor through rice paper- a very familiar scream.

"Buffy?" Spike yelled, and sprinted as fast as he could, throwing the roses to the ground as he ran.

Willow heard Spike call out and paled. "Oh my god. It's Spike. What are we gonna tell him?"

However, no one heard her, they were too busy attending to Buffy, who was staring down at her hands in shock.

"Buffy? Buffy, can you hear me?" Xander asked urgently.

"Where- where am I?" she asked shakily, her voice somehow musty, as if with disuse.

Giles offered out his hand to help her stand. "You're back. You're on Earth, alive."

Buffy stood up as unsteadily as her voice had sounded, and she wobbled on her feet for a second before grabbing Oz's shoulder for support.

Willow rushed forward to help too, and it was lucky she had, for the moment she reached Buffy Oz and Xander let go of her, staring at something over her shoulder. Spinning around, Willow felt her stomach sink in dread. They had hoped to have at least a day to try and figure out how to explain to Sunnydale inhabitants the fact that Buffy was no longer dead, but Willow felt that opportunity graze the side of her face as it swooped away.

"Buffy?" Spike's voice cracked.

"Spike?" Buffy's voice imitated her boyfriend's.

Spike's eyes scanned Buffy for a moment, as if he feared she might disintegrate before his gaze, and then he ran forward and enveloped her in a massive hug.

"Oh, Buffy," he murmured into her hair, inhaling the scent he thought he would never smell again.

When he finally let go of Buffy, Spike turned and faced Giles and Willow. He had no idea what to say- the idea that he had been rejecting all day as impossible and stupid now had living, breathing proof. The awkward moment was solved as Giles addressed Buffy.

"Ah, forgive my intrusion Buffy, but I really must ask this question," Giles began, "where exactly did we bring you back from?"

Buffy was silent for a moment, and everyone feared that Giles had dug too deep far too quickly, but a minute passed and she spoke falteringly. "I really don't know. It was…empty. Nowhere. There was other people there, but we didn't speak." She shuddered.

"So you literally were in nowhere?" Xander asked curiously, which resulted in Willow elbowing him rather hard.

But Buffy nodded. "Yeah. I was. It was terrible- I just knew I wasn't meant to be there." She looked around the circle and half smiled. "Thank you so much for rescuing me," she murmured, much to the shock of Willow, Xander and Oz.

"That's perfectly alright, Buffy. Now, let's get you home so you can rest." Giles said encouragingly, stepping forward to offer more support. Everyone had agreed previously they would give Buffy at least a day to adjust to being alive again before dropping the massive bombshell of her Slayer status on her.

"Um, Giles, maybe it would be a better idea to take Buffy to my place instead," Spike suggested, "after all, her mum might be a bit confused."

"Excellent point. OK, Buffy, you don't mind spending the night at Spike's house, do you?"

"No," she mumbled, "but wait a second…how the hell did you manage to bring me back?"

Willow winced. They had been hoping very much to avoid this topic for at least a day. "Don't worry about it. We'll explain it all tomorrow, when you've rested."

Buffy looked uncertain and slightly mutinous, but continued walking along with the support of Willow and Giles out of the graveyard until they reached Giles' car. Everyone piled in, and Spike gave Giles directions to his house.

"My parents aren't home tonight, so there's no worries about any awkward questions," Spike explained, as they pulled up in front of a fancy, darkened house.

Buffy climbed out of the car without help this time, and Spike slipped in his key and unlocked the door.

Willow and Xander tiptoed in reverently, whilst Oz sauntered in casually and Giles hurried to close the door. Once everyone was safely inside, Spike flicked on the light and was just in time to see Buffy collapse on the marble floor.


	7. Chapter 7

(A/N: Wow, it's been forever since I updated, sorry about that! I know this isn't a very long chapter after such a long wait, but I had a little writer's block and much homework. Hope you enjoy it.)

Oz managed to grab Buffy just before her head hit the floor, and quickly lifted her up to put her on the couch.

"Buffy! What's the matter? Is she alright?" Spike demanded frantically, dropping to his knees beside his unconscious girlfriend.

"Don't fret Spike, I believe the emotional and perhaps physical energy of being brought back to this world has taken a toll on her body, I trust all she needs is some rest." Giles explained, though he didn't seem entirely convinced.

"I think we could all do with some rest," Willow said, looking slightly shaky on her feet.

"Of course…well we have three guest rooms upstairs, and Willow, provided it doesn't bother you, you can sleep in my room," Spike offered, pointing up a large, winding marble staircase, covered in a thick red carpet.

"Thanks Spike," Xander said, the words sounding funny to his own ears- thanks and Spike in the same sentence?

"What about you though?" Willow asked, "And Buffy?"

Spike gazed down tenderly at his girlfriend and murmured; "I think I'm going to sleep down here tonight."

A moment of silence passed, and Xander, the ever tactful, broke it by clearing his throat.

"Oh yeah," Spike acknowledged, not glancing up from Buffy, "the guest rooms are the first three doors on the left, my room's second door on the right."

Giles, Oz, Xander and Willow walked up the stairs quietly, heading off in their separate directions. Willow pushed open the door that obviously led to Spike's room- it had been painted black amongst a sea of floral wallpapers and cream doors.

Inside was as you might expect your average rich rocker boy's room to look- completely covering one wall was posters of various bands, an electric guitar lay half exposed under several pairs of pants, a large stereo occupied most of the next wall, and some text books rested scattered around the floor. But it was the area above Spike's desk that surprised Willow, and she couldn't quite figure out why she felt so taken aback.

Covering the space was dozens of photographs- Spike and Buffy with their arms around each other; Spike, Buffy, Angel and Cordelia lying on the sand at what Willow presumed to be one of California's many sunny beaches; a professional portrait shot of Buffy, which was bigger than the rest of the pictures and was in a place of honour at the centre of the wall; Angel and Cordelia hugging; Buffy and Cordelia outside a big house in stunning dresses, a picture Willow realised must have been taken before their senior prom.

Bemused, Willow turned away from the photo montage and stared at Spike's king size bed- all of a sudden, she didn't feel so sure about getting in there. Who knew what had gone on in there?!

She snapped her fingers over the bed, causing little sparks to fall slowly, which were instantly absorbed by the duvet. Apparently satisfied, Willow lifted the covers and clambered in, falling asleep fairly much instantly.

Downstairs, Spike fixed his eyes lovingly down on Buffy, a smile still playing around the corners of his mouth. A week ago he had been so depressed that the long rope that hung in his gardener's shed had almost looked appealing, now he was so happy he wouldn't be surprised if he levitated a few inches off the ground.

As he reached out a hand and tenderly stroked her face, Buffy stirred slightly in her sleep and her eyes flickered open.

"Spike," she smiled sleepily, closing her eyes in contentment.

"I love you Buffy," he replied simply, lifting her hand up from where it hung limply, slung across the couch, and grasping it in his own.

"I love you Spike," Buffy answered, her eyes still closed but her mouth opening forming a smile, and causing Spike to leap backwards, screaming; "Giles!"


End file.
